The Defective Warp Pipe
by Level Dasher
Summary: A mysterious creature named Yoshi lands in Equestria with a problem on his hands. Can the Equestrians help him get back home to solve his problem, or will he be delayed by means out of (or perhaps within) his control? I did not realize when I started posting here that MA material was not allowed. Go here instead- /story/74698/the-defective-warp-pipe
1. Prologue

It was just like any other level. He needed the extra jump. I knew he would. The gap in level 3-2 was _just_ too far for a clean jump. It happens. So I figured just like any other level, I would drop below and run until I found a pipe that would bring me back to the Junction so I could be sent out in the next egg.

Problem was, I'd been running for about an hour. This wasn't like the usual levels I had faced with Mario. I usually got to a pipe within two or three minutes. The longest it had ever taken me to get to a pipe was in one of the desert levels, and that only took about 15 minutes. So… what had happened to the pipes? Had Bowser figured out the underground system and destroyed them all? I didn't know how he could have… THERE it was! I was going to say! Well, this level definitely had the new record of the longest time it's taken to get to a return pipe. I jumped- Geronimoooooooooo!


	2. A Gripe with the Pipe

_Ow…_ It was a rather bumpier landing than usual. It felt like I bruised my leg… Eh, I would look at it later. _Boy, I need to be wary of that level in the future. It was a doozy. _

Hey… _wait a minute…_ Dirt road? What was this huge field doing here? Was that an orchard in the distance? This definitely wasn't the Yoshi Island Junction… I must have gotten a defective pipe! Where the heck was I? It didn't even look like the Mushroom Kingdom...

*Woosh*

Hey! _What was that?_ Some rainbow-colored blur tried to divebomb me! "HEY! What do you think you're doing?"  
"Oh! Sorry, didn't see ya… excuse me? What did you say?"  
"I said, what do you think you're doing?"  
"What's with the squeaking, huh?"  
_OH NO._ The creature didn't understand me… This was going to be a problem. I had no way to explain to this local who appeared to be a… horse with wings?… Who and what I am, or even how I got there. I wasn't sure of that either, to be honest. Still, the creature intrigued me. I clearly wasn't in the Mushroom Kingdom anymore. Was this the main makeup of the population? I wondered if they had any other species around here…

"HEY BUD!" _Huh?_ "I said, where are you from?"  
Oh boy, this was going to be interesting. I attempted to regain my composure and tried to communicate again. "Pardon me. I come from a land called the Mushroom Kingdom. I was assisting a friend of mine on his quest to retrieve his princess girlfriend from an evil menace. I normally take pipes back to my home island to take breaks, but the last pipe I entered seems to have been defective- it sent me here instead. Where exactly am I?"  
"…Uhhh… why do you keep saying that word? I asked you where you were FROM! Are you from Yoshi? Is that what you're saying?"  
…I knew it- all this creature heard was me squeaking and saying the occasional 'Yoshi.' I wondered, _Maybe there are other beings in this world that I can actually_ talk _to…_

"I'm gonna go get Spike. You kinda look like him with the spikes on your head and all. Maybe you're some kind of dragon?" Then, leaving a magnificent rainbow trail in its wake, the creature sped off faster than Mario with a power star.  
AHA! There WERE other species here! And even my cousins, the dragons! That- wait… DRAGONS? There were large, fire-breathing, treasure-hoarding creatures living in conjunction with these winged horses? How did they do it? I couldn't imagine living with my cousin Norbert for a _week!_ I guess I'd have to ask her when she got back. I mean, she appeared to be a female…

* * *

_How in Peach's name did I get myself into this mess?_ This had never happened before. _How am I…_ I cut myself off. The divebomber was returning. That didn't take very long. I needed to ask how they could possibly live with- _Ooooohhh._ It was a _baby_ dragon! That made more sense. And this blue creature brought five more of her kind with her. Hey… wait… two of them didn't have wings. And the other two had horns… What was going on here? _Were_ they all the same species? If not, I had to say, this seemed like quite a harmonious community! If they lived so peacefully here, I might try spending a vacation in this place for a little while sometime…

"Hey Bud! I brought a friend of mine to see if he could do a little translating. And I told my other friends that I met you and they wanted to meet you too! This is-"  
"Rainbow Dash! I think we should see if Spike can understand him first before we go overwhelming him like that!"  
"Oh, right… Haha, my bad. Spike, you're up!"  
"I'm on it Rainbow Dash." Then this small, purple dragon turned to me and spoke in the clearest, plainest English I had ever heard out of a dragon's mouth. "Hi! My name's Spike. My friend over there said she's having trouble understanding you. Do you mind if give it a shot?"

I was amazed at this dragon's politeness and clarity. Every other dragon I'd ever spoken to had been raspy and arrogant. I hoped he would understand: "Gladly. My name is Yoshi. I am a dinosaur from Yoshi Island in the Mushroom Kingdom. I was helping my friend find his girlfriend when I dropped into a defective warp pipe and ended up here instead of back home. Where am I? And what exactly are those creatures?"  
"SEE?" I heard the Blue winged horse named Rainbow Dash cry to her friends. "I can only catch that one word, and I don't even know what _that_means! I don't get him!"  
"That's because you don't have any experience with the dinosaur family, Dash!" My heart skipped a beat with anticipation- did this dragon named Spike really understand what I said, or did he just happen to know I was a dinosaur?  
"DINOSAUR?" All the other creatures said in unison.  
"Yep." Spike beamed. He seemed to enjoy knowing something the rest of these creatures didn't, as if he was usually at the bottom of the totem pole. "He said his name is Yoshi, and he comes from Yoshi Island in the Mushroom Kingdom. Long story short with how he got here, he… jumped down a wrong hole and ended up here instead of his home." He turned to me. "Does that sound about right?"

My eyes had dilated with joy. He DID understand me! I gave him a fast nod so as to answer his question.  
Another one of the creatures spoke up, bouncing up and down: "Oooh! Oooh! Wait! You said his name was Yoshi, right? And that's all we understand him saying, right? Does that mean he's one of those pokemon characters?"  
NO. Not this question again. Every time I had accidentally ended up in a new land they asked me that. And this pink creature seemed a little too excited with the prospect. I shook my head as hard as I could.  
"Well that looks like a mighty strong 'no', sugar cube," said one of the other creatures with a chuckle.

Spike turned to me again. "I apologize. My friends can get a bit excited when it comes to meeting somepony new. Let me try and answer your questions. I'm going to do it the long way so I can hopefully answer a few more you may have along the way.  
"All the creatures over there are called ponies, but they are slightly different kinds. The first pony you met, the one who told me she almost hit you, her name is Rainbow Dash, and she's a Pegasus. The yellow pony over there hiding in the back is Fluttershy. She's a Pegasus too. Both of them have wings and can fly. The pony that asked if you were a Pokemon is Pinkie Pie, and the one who answered her is Applejack. They don't have wings, and are called Earth Ponies. That white pony over there… that really pretty one… that's Rarity… oops, sorry. Shh! Don't tell her I said that! And the one who yelled at Rainbow Dash when we first came up here, the purple one, that's Twilight Sparkle- I'm her assistant. The two of them are unicorns- they have those horns and are able to do magic. We all live here in Ponyville, which is one town of many in the great kingdom of Equestria!"

Kingdom! That meant they had a princess too… Maybe we would have more in common with each other than I originally thought!

"That about covers the basics. Do you want to know anything else while we're at it?"  
I contemplated Spike's explanation of his friends and my whereabouts. One question _had_ occurred to me as he finished talking. I wasn't sure if it would offend him, but I decided to take the risk. "Thanks Spike, that does calm my nerves a bit. And don't worry, I won't mention anything to, er, Rarity, I think you said her name was. I admire how you all seem to live harmoniously, but I do have one question."  
"Go ahead!"  
"Well, if this is Ponyville, how did you, a dragon, end up as that pony Twilight Sparkle's assistant here? If you don't mind my asking."  
"Haha, not at all! Others wonder that too- I've told this story a few times." Phew. I didn't want to offend the one being that could understand me (and would most likely end up being my translator) during our first meeting. I did want to hear his story, though.

"Twilight is a student at Princess Celestia's school for gifted ponies in Canterlot, and her entrance exam was to hatch me from my egg. It turned out Twilight has exceptional magical power, so the Princess took her under her wing as her special student. Twilight needed help, so I became her assistant. It's been that way since I can remember."  
"Ah… um, what's Canterlot?"  
"Oh, I'm sorry! Canterlot is a big city quite a ways away from here where Princess Celestia lives and runs her school. Twilight and I used to live there, but a while ago we were sent here on a special mission, and we've stayed here since then, reporting to Princess Celestia all the lessons about friendship that we encounter. Our friends help out by sending reports to the princess when they come across lessons as well."  
"Wow. This is quite a place…"  
"Yep! I wouldn't wish it any other way."

Just then I heard the purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle call over in our direction: "Spike! We should bring him back to the library! I'd like to talk to him!"  
"Uh oh, there she goes." Spike winced, then looked at me. "Would you mind if Twilight did a little research on you?"  
I was horrorstruck. _Research_ on me? I didn't have time for that! "I'd really rather not. I need to get home!"  
"Well, I don't know if you're going to have any choice, but we'll see. Let's go back to the library- Twilight and I live there. Maybe we can find a way to help you get back home."  
Now THAT was more like it. I stumbled, cringing as Spike and I walked over to the crowd of ponies that had been watching from afar. I wasn't sure what the cringing was about, or what was going to happen when we got to the library, but my anticipation of the events to come wasn't making things any better.  
The pony named Rarity spoke up: "Dear, I think we should keep close around him when we walk through town. I have a feeling the rest of the ponies may find the sudden appearance of a dinosaur rather startling, don't you?"

_Hmmm… good point…_


	3. Delays, Delays

We got to the library without making much of a scene, but we did get a few suspicious eyeballs. I was worried that the pony that Spike called Twilight would want to make a thorough examination of me when I had so little time to get back home. However, it turned out Twilight wasn't the one that would delay me…

When Twilight came to speak to me, Spike was ready to translate. However, he seemed to be a little shocked by the words that came out of her mouth. "Personally Mr. Yoshi, I would love to do a little research on you, but I recognize the expression on your face. You really want to get back home, don't you?" I gave a vigorous nod. "Okay. I know a teleportation spell, but it's only strong enough to work within the kingdom of Equestria. If I'm going to be able to get you back home, I still need to do a little research to find this Mushroom Kingdom if I'm going to be able to get you there. Getting enough information is going to take some time- I'm guessing at least one full day. Is that okay?"  
The fact that she was helping me at all, I was so grateful that I couldn't say no. Besides, I didn't know of another way to get back on my own. I nodded.  
"Okay. I'll get right on it."

"Um, excuse me? But I don't think he should be going anywhere yet." I jumped. I whirled around and found the pony named Fluttershy at my back. "Mr. Yoshi, you're injured. Your back left leg has a big bruise and you have a cut on your back. I…I saw it because your saddle was hanging crooked."  
From all the shock of being in this strange land, I didn't even think to look at my injuries. Now that Fluttershy mentioned it, my back did feel a little odd, though nothing major, but now I knew what that cringing from before was about- my leg didn't feel as springy as usual. I must have caused some damage when I landed on it.  
Spike spoke to me this time: "Yoshi, Fluttershy is the best caretaker in town other than the doctors, and you have at least a full day before Twilight comes up with any answers for you anyway. I think you should get looked at."  
"That sounds alright with me." I said. "But I want to know as soon as any information comes up."  
"He says he's okay with it Fluttershy, but he wants to know as soon as you find out anything, Twilight," Spike turned his attention from one pony to the other as he spoke.  
"Okay," the two ponies said in unison.

"Um, come this way with me, please," Fluttershy said to me. I turned to follow her out the door, Spike trailing behind me. I heard him yell to Twilight that he should stay with me so he could translate, and Twilight told him it was a good idea. I also saw Fluttershy sigh with relief. It was clear she was going to need to be able to talk to me, so she needed Spike with us.  
I hobbled out of the library into the main square, following Fluttershy's lead. I tried not to make too much noise, but my leg started acting up and I winced again. Some of the villagers heard me and looked in my direction, and right away I could tell they were becoming apprehensive.  
"What's that creature with Fluttershy?"  
"That's definitely no pony!"  
"Is that Spike's brother?"  
"It looks hurt!"  
I was a little surprised, but quite glad that they didn't make too much of a scene. The inhabitants of Ponyville seemed to be curious, but not chaotic creatures. I made it to Fluttershy's home without too much trouble. She had me sit on her couch while she looked at my wounds. She first looked at my back.

"Luckily this is just a minor cut, Mr. Yoshi, and it isn't very big. I'm just going to clean it out and put a bandage on it- is that alright?" I nodded. Maybe Spike wouldn't need to do a lot of work after all.  
Fluttershy wet a towel and cleaned off the wound, dabbed on some liquid that stung for a second, then applied what I could only assume was a bandage. After which, she straightened my saddle again. "OK, all done. Now turn around please? I want to see your leg." I did as I was told. I could really feel the pain this time. Uh oh… "Mr. Yoshi, I want to see how much this bruise hurts, okay? Does it hurt when I touch it here?"  
"YOSHI!"  
"Fluttershy, stop!" Spike yelled. Oh no, I didn't scream my name in my own tongue unless I was in a lot of pain.  
"Oh my… Mr. Yoshi, I barely touched your leg. I think you might have sprained it. How in Equestria have you been walking on it for this long?"

That was a good question. How was I not in more pain? Did the shock of landing in Ponyville really cause me to not feel it for that long? I didn't like where this was going…  
"Mr. Yoshi, I want to try it one more time- it could have been a fluke. Is that alright?"  
I winced, but I nodded. I hoped I didn't have a sprain in a strange land where I barely knew anyone. I could feel Fluttershy's hoof getting closer to my leg, then I felt a slight tap.  
"YOSHI!" Oh no. She was right.  
"Mr. Yoshi, I'm sorry, but you're going to need to stay here in Ponyville for a while. You definitely have a sprained leg. Let me get some bandages."

Shoot. Why me? Why now? This timing was horrible.

I saw a little white rabbit hop up to the couch with a roll of bandaging tape. "Why, thank you Angel! Mr. Yoshi, this is my good friend Angel Bunny. Angel, this is Mr. Yoshi."  
"Just Yoshi is fine, Ms. Fluttershy. Thank you very much." I gave a small wave to the bunny she had just introduced. A gesture he returned with a smile.  
"Fluttershy, he said you can call him just Yoshi. And he says thank you very much."  
I saw her blush a little bit. "OK, and you're very welcome. I, um, apologize for the circumstances." It seemed she was not used to being complimented on doing something right. She was clearly the most timid of the group of ponies I had just met. "Angel, didn't I see a board about this size yesterday? Do you know where it was?" I saw the rabbit jiggle its head up and down very quickly and then hop away. "Um, Yoshi, Angel is going to get me a splint and then I'm going to wrap up your leg, but luckily everything else is alright. Unfortunately, that means you really should, um, stay off that leg for at least a week. Probably more."  
Oh NO! I needed to get back to Yoshi Island! I needed to get back to Mario! I couldn't wait a week! Still… I wouldn't be much help with a sprained leg, and the ponies seemed to be very friendly. I figured I would be better off. But I needed to find a way to contact the Mushroom Kingdom and tell them I was alright! First things first, however…

"That's perfect Angel! Thank you so much!" I looked up and saw Fluttershy with a board in one hoof and the bandages in the other. "Mr. Yoshi, please stick your leg out for me? I won't lie, this will hurt for the first few seconds." I had anticipated that- I was ready. "OK, Mr. Yoshi, here we go."  
I gave a hard wince as Fluttershy set the splint against my leg. I heard her apologize again as she started wrapping it up. It took about a minute or so, but when she was done I looked up and saw my leg cleanly wrapped, and Fluttershy standing over me with an apologetic smile. I'll be honest- it hurt. But the support definitely made it hurt less. I let out a relieving sigh. "Thank you very much, Ms. Fluttershy."  
"He said thank you very much, Fluttershy."  
I noticed her blushing again. "Oh, um, you're very welcome. I hope it didn't hurt too much. Now the question is, how are you going to get around? I'm guessing you won't want to be bed-ridden?"  
I shook my head. I had been wondering that too. The ponies clearly didn't use crutches like the people in the Mushroom Kingdom do. I don't think my arms would have supported crutches anyway. What was I going to do? All my motorbikes and karts were at the racetracks in the Mushroom Kingdom…

"Wait! I, um, I have an idea. Spike, do you mind staying here with Mr. Yoshi for a little while? I'll be back soon."  
"Sure thing! And Fluttershy, he did say you could call him Yoshi." I nodded my approval, but she was out the door already. "Geez, I'm really sorry about all this. You're in a bit of a rough spot, huh?"  
"Yeah, no kidding. Fluttershy seemed pretty happy about her idea, though. Do you have any idea what she's thinking about? I've never sprained anything before."  
"No idea. Most of the solutions she finds involve her forest friends, but I can't see how they could help you support a sprained leg for a week."  
"You mean she has more little animal friends other than her rabbit, Angel?"  
"Oh you don't know the half of it…"

* * *

About an hour later, Spike had told me most of the advanced aspects of the pony community. It had started with an explanation about Fluttershy's special way with animals, which led to the mention of her Cutie Mark. This in turn led to the explanation of what a cutie mark was, and the other five ponies' cutie marks. And that was just the beginning! Spike was just starting on Pinkie Pie's cupcakes when Fluttershy came back.

"Um, I'm sorry I took so long. It took me a while to find the pony I was looking for."  
Spike asked for the both of us: "Who were you looking for, Fluttershy? What did you think of?"  
"Well, um, I was looking for Scootaloo. I asked her if I could borrow this." She then wheeled in a wagon that looked like it had been modified for downhill racing: a steering wheel had been attached, and the back wheels had been replaced with much bigger ones so they could be reached from inside the top of the wagon. It was perfect!  
Fluttershy could clearly see my excited expression, but Spike still had to translate this one: "It's perfect! That will definitely work for a week or so. But, are you sure I have permission to use this? It looks like it is being very well cared for." Spike gave Fluttershy the long and the short of it.  
"Oh yes, Mr. Yoshi. I told Scootaloo I needed it for an injured friend who would only be staying here until he got better. She said, 'If he needs a ride, he might as well ride in style!' and gave me the all clear. She also said she had taken a break from the wagon and had been more focused on her scooter anyway, so you have it for as long as you need it!"  
I gave Fluttershy a very grateful smile and climbed into the wagon to test it out. It seemed quite large- big enough for two ponies, or maybe three young ones. I was just able to reach the large wheels to give some acceleration, and the steering wheel worked quite well. I turned to Fluttershy: "I would like to meet this Scootaloo and give her my thanks. Where is she?" Spike informed Fluttershy of my wishes.

Fluttershy seemed to be totally fine with me meeting Scootaloo. She said, "I finally found her in the Sweet Apple Acres orchards with the Crusaders and she brought me to her storage shack to give me the wagon. Let's ask Applejack if she went back."  
I turned to Spike: "Crusaders?"  
He rolled his eyes a little before he answered, "That's a story for them to tell you themselves. If you're up to it, ask them when we find them. It may be a longer story than you're willing to hear. Basically, they're three fillies, that's young ponies, that formed a little club, but it's a bit more than that…"  
I nodded, then followed Fluttershy out the door in my new transport apparatus, with Spike trailing closely behind explaining about the aforementioned fillies.


	4. Stranger Number Two

With me using my borrowed transport device, we made it to the place Fluttershy called "Sweet Apple Acres" fairly quickly, despite it being on the other edge of town. We met the Earth Pony named Applejack outside the gate, and it seemed she was about to go somewhere. We had good timing. Spike called to her from behind me.

"Hey Applejack! Are the Crusaders still out in the orchards?"  
She turned and noticed us, giving a smile and then a bit of a chuckle. "Aw, heya Spike. Heya Fluttershy. Mr. Yoshi, I see you're doing well with Scootaloo's wagon. How's your leg feelin'?"  
I shot Spike a quick look. He knew what I was thinking: "Applejack, you can call him just 'Yoshi'. He said so back in Fluttershy's cabin." I nodded. I really didn't like the formality.  
When I thought about it, how did Applejack know about my leg? I mean, it was clearly wrapped up, but she must have known about it previously because otherwise she would have looked more surprised to see me in this condition…  
"Ah, I see that expression Mister- oops sorry- Yoshi. Scootaloo told me about 'Fluttershy's friend's leg' when she left to get you her wagon. I knew she was talkin' 'bout you. And yes, she went back into the orchards with the other crusaders. I'm guessing she's told Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle about 'Fluttershy's friend' by now. Wait 'til they meetcha!"

I figured if Scootaloo was kind enough to let me borrow a means of transportation, I could at least meet her friends as well. I gave a nod of thanks to Applejack and turned to roll off in the direction of the orchards where she said the fillies were. I realized we were going to go up over hills of grass, and I was in a wagon. It would have been problematic, but it was Fluttershy's turn to read my mind.  
"Don't worry Yoshi, I'll push you up the hills. We can clean the wheels for Scootaloo when you're feeling better."  
These ponies must have been psychic! I breathed a sigh of relief and then gave Fluttershy a smile of thanks, to which she blushed a little again. We headed off to find the fillies and found them not too far from the entrance to the orchard.

Sweet Apple Acres was lined with apple trees, as the name would have implied. I had never seen such an expanse before. The different colors of the apples made the scene look like a piece of artwork. The barrels underneath the trees that were holding the collected apples were brimming full, yet the trees seemed to have another full harvest ready to be collected. It was amazing.

As soon as the Crusaders spotted us over the horizon I heard them: "Golly, Scootaloo! I never thought yer wagon would actually come in use one day!"  
"Oh shut it, Apple Bloom. I did tell ya, didn't I? I knew there was a reason I kept workin' on that wagon, I just didn't realize it'd be movin' on grass instead of road! But I tell ya, he looks good in it!"  
I was quite glad they didn't make a fuss over what kind of creature I was compared to them, but I wasn't totally surprised. Children tend to be much more accepting than adults. Fluttershy wheeled me over to them with Spike in tow. As soon as we got over to them, I could tell they were about to burst with questions, and so could Fluttershy. Luckily she got her words in right as the children opened their mouths to start the barrage.  
"Now girls, before you start asking questions, I need to clear up something. This is Yoshi- he can understand what you say, but he can't speak in our language, so Spike needs to translate. That means you need to keep your questions one at a time so they can work together to answer everything, alright?"  
"Yes Fluttershy." The three fillies all spoke in unison. They seemed to have great respect for her.

"Yoshi and Spike, I'll let you take it from here, okay?" I nodded, as did Spike. Satisfied, Fluttershy trotted off to the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres to go after AppleJack. Before the girls started however, I spoke up with my voice that seemed to startle them.  
"Before you start asking questions, Scootaloo, I would like to thank you for allowing me to use your wagon to get around. I would be stuck in bed if not for you. I will make sure to clean it when I get better and can walk on my own." Spike gave a word-for-word translation.  
"Aw shucks, it's not a problem. I haven't used it for a while- I've just been keeping it in fair condition. I guess it finally came in handy!"

After about half an hour of questions, including what I was, where I came from, how I got hurt, etc, they finally seemed to be out of ideas. I had asked them a few questions as well, including who was who since I had heard the others' names, but decided not to get too involved in the origin of their club. Finally, Sweetie Belle asked, "How long are you going to stay here, Mr. Yoshi?" I shrugged, then gave a glance to Spike.  
"Girls, you can just call him Yoshi. He said Mr. Yoshi is too formal for him."  
Apple Bloom piped up: "Ahright. But wait, how are yah sure? He didn't say nothin' to yah!" I chuckled a bit.  
"Good point, Apple Bloom. He's told me to tell that to everyone that's called him 'Mister' so far, so at this point his glance is a good enough sign." I nodded in agreement.  
Scootaloo got excited. "Hey, that's cool, Spike! But you should tell everypony you can read his mind! That would be cooler! HEY! Girls, we should try that! CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MIND READERS!" They then went speeding out of the orchard. Spike and I both started to laugh.

I asked Spike, "Do they do that frequently?"  
"You'd be surprised. When they get an idea of something they could do to earn their Cutie Marks they go running off together in an instant to go and do it. Looks like we inspired another idea!" Both of us laughed again.  
I realized the girls were gone, but we were still in the middle of the orchards. How was I going to get over the hills? However, it seemed Fluttershy had had another psychic moment as she came trotting over the horizon to meet us.  
"I saw the girls running out of the orchards so I thought you would be wanting to get back over the hills. Need some help?" I nodded. Spike breathed a sigh of relief- it meant he wouldn't have to push. Without much trouble we got back to the entrance to the Acres. AppleJack was back and shooting the breeze with a pony who was introduced to me as her brother, Big Macintosh. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the library for some rest after the long chat with the three fillies. Fluttershy dropped us off and went back home.

* * *

I made the executive decision not to announce myself to the rest of Ponyville, at least for a few days. I didn't want to be too forward with the population, particularly because I couldn't speak to them directly. I also feared it would distract Twilight too much.  
Twilight had put all her current projects on hold while she did research to find a way to get me home. Despite all her efforts, it seemed to be taking a while. Even though I was worried about Mario, whose missions are a lot tougher without me, I didn't want to nudge her- she was doing all she could to help me and butting my oversized nose into her work wouldn't have been a great way to thank her. After about five days of no results, I came to grips with the likely fact that I was going to be here for a while. I started feeling a bit down. On the sixth day, however, a new factor was presented to us.

While Twilight was doing still more research, and I was casually chatting with Spike, a figure that turned out to be Fluttershy suddenly slammed into the door. She opened it and yelled (or what was considered a yell for Fluttershy apparently) for me.  
"Yoshi! We need you! Somepony else that's not a pony appeared out of nowhere nearby the Everfree Forest! Angel found him pretty beaten by a tree and he was saying your name!"  
_What in Peach's name?_ Who would have followed me here to this strange land? "Fluttershy, what did he look like?" Spike asked her for me.  
"Well, he didn't say much. He just said your name a few times. But he looked a bit like a big mushroom…"

"Big mushroom?" _It couldn't be…_ "That's Toad! They don't send him out except for emergencies! Something big must be happening in the Mushroom Kingdom!" I limped back into Scootaloo's wagon and wheeled right out the door. Then I realized Fluttershy had to tell me where he was first…  
"I'll bring you to him Yoshi. He's out in this direction."

* * *

We made it to where Toad had ended up fairly quickly with me in Scootaloo's wagon. He was pretty battered- it looked like someone had beaten him up something awful. Since Toad was one of the few from the Mushroom Kingdom who understood me, I asked him outright, "Toad, what happened? Are you alright?"  
His voice was hoarse and he spoke slowly, "Well, …I was tired of sitting on the sidelines while you guys always went looking for the Princess, so right after Mario left, I started making my way through a bunch of the shortcuts to Bowser's first castle to try and find Princess Peach. She wasn't there. I thought maybe she was just in another castle, but Bowser came out himself. He started beating me up, saying I was trespassing…"

This worried me. Bowser wasn't usually this cruel, even to Mario. But Toad continued, "Bowser then did something I never thought he would ever do- he apologized. Apparently he was just really mad. He told me he had been beaten to the punch, no pun intended. Turns out he didn't take Peach. Someone else did. Bowser told me the whole story." By this time all of Fluttershy's friends had made it to where we were and were listening to Toad's explanation.  
"It turns out that somehow a creature that looks like a mix-and-match of all kinds of animals made his way into the Mushroom Kingdom during the middle of one of Mario's missions, and created some kind of time-space loop. The timer has been going crazy, all the levels seem to be infinitely blending together, and Mario still hasn't gotten to the end of level 3-2. It's pure CHAOS! I don't know what it all means, but…what?"

Toad had cut himself off. I turned around, confused. We saw all of the ponies and Spike staring at him with their eyes out of their heads and their mouths open. They all looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Then, as if it had been rehearsed, they all said it in unison:

"DISCORD!"


	5. Answers

I put Toad in Scootaloo's wagon and pushed him slowly back to Fluttershy's cabin. Fluttershy offered to do it, but I insisted. I felt it was my duty, despite my own wounds. With Toad being as hurt as he was, I knew I had to give the ponies a hand in taking care of him, considering how much they were helping me already.

As we went along the path, I began interrogating Toad myself, "Toad, I'm sorry you went through all this, but I have to ask- you never mentioned how you ended up _here_…"  
"Sorry. I kind of got cut off by those creatures' exclamations of that weird name. It was a strange, but fairly easy bit of travel. After Bowser explained what happened, he got really angry again, and then he picked me up in his claws and just threw me out over his gates as hard as he could. I was flying so fast I had no idea where I was going to land, but when I descended I found myself landing in this warp pipe in the underground system that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. I had no idea where I was going to end up, and I guess I… fainted out of sheer terror. When I opened my eyes I was at the edge of that forest. I don't know how long I was out for, but I knew if anyone had, the most likely one to have gone through that pipe before me was you. You're the only one I know of that uses the underground pipe system regularly, so when those creatures found me I asked for you by name. Boy, am I glad you were…here…" He then passed out with an odd look that seemed to be a strange combination of pain and euphoria…

When we got to Fluttershy's cabin, she told me she would take a look at Toad and that I should go back to the library to speak with Twilight. Apparently she had found some new information about getting me, and now Toad as well, back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Fluttershy also instructed me to get myself back in the wagon because as far as she was concerned, I shouldn't have been out of it at all. She conceded that Toad did need it for that one instance, however.  
After I dropped Toad off with Fluttershy, I got back in the wagon and made my way to the library to see Twilight. I wasn't worried about the citizens of Ponyville seeing me anymore, but I still didn't approach them. It was still too soon.

Spike was waiting with Twilight to help translate for me. That was a big relief. As soon as I walked in, Twilight relayed the info she had found out.  
"Ah! Yoshi, you're back! I've been waiting to give you the good news! I found a way to enhance my teleportation spell to get you to the Mushroom Kingdom from here. Unfortunately, it requires the use of a specific gemstone. It's called an Augmentation Stone. They're somewhat rare, but from what I know about Ponyville's history, I'm confident in saying that there will be a few in the mines near here. We'll need Rarity to help us find them. I need at least three." I remembered Spike telling me about Rarity's ability to find gems- it was her special talent. "I found a spell to help Rarity in finding the gems, so we can get started right away if you want. I know you may want to comfort your friend Toad."  
I asked Spike to translate for me, "Toad is in Fluttershy's care. I trust her completely- Toad will be fine, and he knows what we've been trying to do. He'll be fine with her for a time while he heals. Let's start the search!" Spike translated word for word.  
"Okay Yoshi, let's go get Rarity. She may be watching the Crusaders right now, but I heard about your inspiration for them. They really took to the mind-readers idea!" We both chuckled at the thought. I then got in my wagon and Twilight and I headed over to Rarity's Boutique.

* * *

"You need moi to find some gemstones for you, Darling? It shouldn't be a problem, dear! Especially if what Twilight says is true and she has found a spell to enhance my ability, we should be able to find these Augmentation Stones in no time flat!"  
I was glad to hear Rarity's excitement in helping me. I knew that I would be home again soon, but I still needed recovery time, as did Toad now.  
Twilight seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Wait, Yoshi. Are you sure you want to go searching for the stones now? I believe Fluttershy was right- you should be resting for at least a few more days before you do anything too strenuous again." I was resistant to the prospect at first, but I realized Twilight was right. I needed more recovery time; I wasn't much help in a wagon. Toad wouldn't be much help in his current state, either. I conceded to her suggestion. We could start searching in a few days…

_IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:_ From now on, whenever there is any speech of Yoshi's in quotes AND italics at the same time, it is to be assumed that Spike has translated for him. Hopefully it will make the story flow much more easily.


End file.
